The Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Power, Mr Beks Dagogo-Jack on Tuesday disclosed that the nation’s power generation hit a new peak at 4350MW.
This is despite the recent closure of the Escavros gas plant belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited, which reduced the power output of the nation by 300MW for three weeks.
Although the task force chairman was delighted with the new record, he said authorities were not satisfied with it and were working hard to surpass the record.
“This is very exciting and cheering news. To be clear, we are not surprised. We are fully focused as a team to prove to Nigerians that this government is serious about power, and shall succeed despite challenges,” said Dagogo-Jack.
He also said this feat was possible due to the diligence of key operational players, especially the systems operator and the team from the management contractor for the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Manitoba Hydro International, who played strategic roles to produce higher levels of electricity generation.
Power generation in the country has been between 3000 and 3700MW for most of this year. This is despite the fact there is capacity for much higher generation, as the country is yet to enjoy the full benefit of the construction of more power stations due to insufficient gas supply.
Power authorities are optimistic that the power generation could reach 6,873MW by the end of 2013.
The Chief Executive Officer, Egbin Power Plc, Mr Mike Uzoigwe, said that a target for 6,873MW for 2013. He made this disclosure during the signing of performance agreements between the Minister of State for Power, Mrs Zainab Kuchi, and the chief executives of organizations in the Ministry of Power.
He said while the successor companies to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria would generate 3,879MW, the remaining 2,500MW would come from the National Independent Power Producers.
Uzoigwe said that the target was jointly at the meeting with the minister, the Presidential Task Force on Power and the CEOS of all successor companies, where capability and performance of all generation stations were reviewed.
“It is pertinent to note that some NIPP units have been fully inaugurated but cannot run due to gas supply issues. The Geregu power plant is still experiencing gas supply shortage,” he said, noting that availability of gas for thermal stations was critical to realizing the projections.